The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
ECHOES CHEERING HIS NAME?
After failing to offer his older brother back in 2014, there was no way Ohio State was going to make the same mistake with Cincinnati Winton Woods defensive end Jerron Cage. Head coach Urban Meyer made the four-star prospect a priority, and he committed shortly after he was offered a scholarship last summer.
On Monday, Blue and Gold Illustrated reported that Cage is set to take an official visit to Notre Dame this fall ($). It comes as no surprise, as Cage's older brother, Daniel, is a starting defensive lineman for the Fighting Irish.
STORY: 2017 Ohio State Commit Jerron Cage Will Take Notre Dame Official https://t.co/6JabBEXmw9 pic.twitter.com/5B15FMdwOm
— Corey Bodden (@BGI_CoreyBodden) August 23, 2016
One of two defensive tackle pledges from the Class of 2017 — Las Vegas, Nevada, Bishop Gorman's Haskell Garrett the other — Cage is considered the No. 12 overall player at his position. The Buckeyes are also recruiting South Jordan, Utah, defensive tackle Jay Tufele, so we wonder if the allure of playing with his brother for one season — if at all — enough to chance his mind?
We'll have to wait and see.
FAB FIVE
Maybe it's just me, but it seems as if there are two foolproof of being extended a scholarship offer by Ohio State these days: Your name is some form of Jay-lynn — do we have Jalen Rose to thank? — or you must play defensive back.
So much to my surprise, the Buckeyes on Monday afternoon became the first program to offer Saint Simons Island, Georgia, cornerback Jaylin Simpson.
Blessed to receive my first offer from THE Ohio State University pic.twitter.com/AOK9hwl0Qq
— Jaylin Simpson (@jaylinsimp) August 22, 2016
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Simpson is not yet rated by recruiting outlets, so you're probably wondering how Ohio State found the high school sophomore. According to 247Sports, Meyer noticed him when watching tape on his teammate Jashawn Sheffield, the top-ranked 2019 wide receiver whom the Buckeyes offered last month.
“It was crazy,” Simpson said. “I was nervous. Jashawn ran in and jumped on the table and threw the phone. I kind of knew something was up. [Meyer] asked me a few questions about Ohio State and my family.”
Tennessee followed Ohio State's lead just 45 minutes later when it offered Simpson a scholarship.
CUE THE LAME EGYPTIAN NICKNAME
Four-star Thomason, Georgia, cornerback Christian Tutt narrowed his top schools down to 11 on Monday evening, and included Ohio State along with Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, UCLA and USC.
Thomson's Christian Tutt has a top 11: OSU, UGA, Bama, USC, UCLA, UF, A&M, FSU, Miami, ND, & Clemson
— Matt Zahn (@mattzahnsports) August 22, 2016
(@cblacks500) pic.twitter.com/JA4BdrubA2
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Tutt, who is considered the 14th-best defensive back in the Class of 2018, unofficially visited Ohio State in April. According to Augusta, Georgia, ABC affiliate WJBF-TV, Tutt will make his college announcement on his brother's birthday, May 30.
Christian's older brother Chris Tutt, a former Thomson football star, was killed in a single car crash on June 2. Tutt called his older brother his role model.
“I wanted to be like him. He really taught me everything. He taught me how to play football.”
Thomson head coach Rob Ridings said the team with honor Chris’ memory by wearing the No. 1 on the back of their helmets this season. Christian is taking it a step further, changing his jersey number from No. 2 to No. 1, his brother’s old number.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
Like the aforementioned Simpson, Ohio State was the first program to offer 2018 San Jose, California, running back Maurice Washington following a three-day visit for a camp in June.
In a bit of unfortunate news, the junior will have to sit out the 2016 season after transferring from The King's Academy to Oak Grove. However, his new head coach had some interesting things to say about his recruitment.
“It's always been his dream to go to Ohio State,” Jay Braun told 247Sports. “He went out there and met the people and saw the facilities and the school and fell in love with the place. What Ohio State has to offer, the prestige, he loved it.”
The 6-foot, 175-pound Washington was a varsity starter his freshman year and rushed for 1,827 yards and 29 touchdowns as a sophomore. Considered the 10th-best running back in his recruiting cycle, Washington also has offers from Missouri and Washington, though schools like Notre Dame, Oregon and Stanford have shown quite a bit of interest.
As for the forced one-year interruption of his high school playing career, the California Interscholastic Federation deemed his transfer “athletically motivated, centering almost entirely on the firing of the assistant football coach.”
As similar situation played out for recent Ohio State commit Tyjon Lindsey, who would have been forced to sit out five games this coming season if he would have stayed at Centennial, California, High. He, instead, returned to Bishop Gorman.
